WanaBNACub
Registered User
Off Airport
After all the mountain hunts I have been a part of over the last 10 years I decided it was time to work on a new lightweight project rifle to strap on to the cub wing. I picked up a severely beat up old .270 Rem 700 village rifle from a trooper auction in McGrath and got with Derrick Moffitt from Last Frontier Custom Guns, LLC. I had been trying to decide on a good medium to long range caliber that packed a punch. There are hundreds of choices so it was pretty difficult, but I went with the .280 Ackley improved. The goal of this rifle wasn't necessarily to be the lightest rifle ever made, but to be a perfect balance of very light weight, accuracy, durability and functionality. I will update this thread as the build progresses.
This old rifle was beat! Every part was rusted, the stock was cracked and the barrel had been chopped off with a hacksaw. It was the perfect donor for the action and the price was right!
The weight of the rifle to start with was 6.5 lbs as is with no scope, rings or sling. I am hoping to get it to 6.5 lbs with the scope and sling but retain the #2 barrel contour for durability and accuracy. We will see how close we can get it.
The barrel is a Bartlein #2 contour and will be fluted.
The stock is a McMillan ultralight and will be modified slightly and dipped in a camo pattern of some sort when its finished.
We stripped the original rifle right away and this is the only part that will be used in the new build. It weighed in at 14 1/4 oz before any machining.
We started with a little lightening right away! Sure looks different than the beat up broken piece I dropped off!
New ultralight fluted Gre-tan fluted firing pin along side the old one.
And the new fluted ultralight bolt with some further lightening work done.
The barrel was cut down to 23" and then ported, for 22" of useable barrel length.
And then Fluted to shave off a little more weight.
We also shaved down bolt shroud for a tad bit more weight savings and a custom look.
And both sides of the receiver were ported and shaved as much as safely possible. There isn't an oz we could lighten it up any further without going to a #1 contour barrel and sacrificing a little too much in my opinion...
This old rifle was beat! Every part was rusted, the stock was cracked and the barrel had been chopped off with a hacksaw. It was the perfect donor for the action and the price was right!
The weight of the rifle to start with was 6.5 lbs as is with no scope, rings or sling. I am hoping to get it to 6.5 lbs with the scope and sling but retain the #2 barrel contour for durability and accuracy. We will see how close we can get it.
The barrel is a Bartlein #2 contour and will be fluted.
The stock is a McMillan ultralight and will be modified slightly and dipped in a camo pattern of some sort when its finished.
We stripped the original rifle right away and this is the only part that will be used in the new build. It weighed in at 14 1/4 oz before any machining.
We started with a little lightening right away! Sure looks different than the beat up broken piece I dropped off!
New ultralight fluted Gre-tan fluted firing pin along side the old one.
And the new fluted ultralight bolt with some further lightening work done.
The barrel was cut down to 23" and then ported, for 22" of useable barrel length.
And then Fluted to shave off a little more weight.
We also shaved down bolt shroud for a tad bit more weight savings and a custom look.
And both sides of the receiver were ported and shaved as much as safely possible. There isn't an oz we could lighten it up any further without going to a #1 contour barrel and sacrificing a little too much in my opinion...